While the field of image guided surgical robotic assistance is still in its infancy, it is expanding rapidly. The benefit of image guided robotically assisted surgery is fairly clear: the combination of computer controlled precision movement and high resolution soft tissue imaging allows the surgeon to accomplish the procedural goals with minimized damage to surrounding tissue. There are many organizations across the globe developing imaging compatible systems of, though currently few are on the market. Most research facilities are either attempting to re-build general purpose serial manipulators for imaging compatibility, or developing single purpose units to perform a multitude of tasks on a single area of the body.
Stereotactic neural intervention is a commonly practiced surgical procedure today. There are many treatments and operations that require the accurate targeting of, and intervention with, a specific area of the brain which utilize stereotactic neural intervention. One common use of this procedure is Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), which is often used for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible systems have been developed, though they typically manually driven, bulky and/or inconvenient to use. There are systems for specific procedures such as DBS therapy, though those systems are inconvenient to use and/or lack accuracy due to the lack of real time image guidance.
DBS is a technique for influencing brain function through the use of implanted electrodes. Direct magnetic resonance (MR) image guidance during DBS insertion would provide many benefits; most significantly, interventional MRI can be used for planning, real-time monitoring of tissue deformation, insertion, and placement confirmation. The accuracy of standard stereotactic insertion is limited by registration errors and brain movement during surgery. With real-time acquisition of high-resolution MR images during insertion, probe placement can be confirmed intraoperatively. Direct MR guidance has not taken hold because it is often confounded by a number of issues including: MR compatibility of existing stereotactic surgery equipment and patient access in the scanner bore. The high resolution images required for neurosurgical planning and guidance require high-field MR (1.5-3T); thus, any system must be capable of working within the constraints of a closed, long-bore diagnostic magnet. Currently, no technological solution exists to assist MRI guided neurosurgical interventions in an accurate, simple, and economical manner.
Currently, a typical DBS placement procedure is comprised of the following events:
1. Patient arrives at hospital for pre-procedure MRI scan.
2. Surgeons analyze the patient's images, and produces a surgical plan.
3. Patient returns to the hospital where a stereotactic surgical frame is attached to the skull in the operating room.
4. A computed tomography (CT) scan is taken of the patient with the frame to register the surgical plan to the frame.
5. The surgical frame is manually aligned and used to guide a drill for drilling the burr holes to gain access to the cranial cavity.
6. The surgical frame is used to guide the placement of electrodes through the burr hole.
7. Some form of placement confirmation is utilized (often micro electrode recordings, fluoroscopy, or computed tomography.)
8. Often the procedure is repeated for bilateral insertion of a second electrode.
8. Patient is sent to recovery.
This process has been used for several decades, though tissue deformation can cause registration errors between the preoperative images used to create the surgical plan, and the state of the patients anatomy during the procedure. These errors can lead to a host of negative side effects including: reduced effectiveness of the DBS equipment, unwanted neurological changes (mood shift, chronic gambling), brain injury, brain hemorrhage, etc.
This procedure has several other drawbacks, such as the following:                during the time between when the surgical plan is generated and the procedure occurs, there is a possibility of soft tissue shift within the patient, causing inaccurate placement of electrodes;        when the cerebrospinal fluid drains after the first burr hole is drilled, there is another possibility of soft tissues shift;        for some applications of DBS, micro electrode recordings cannot be used for placement confirmation due to a high possibility of causing brain damage;        shifts in soft tissue increase the risk of a blood vessel being moved into the surgical path, which could cause brain hemorrhage; and        electrode insertion itself will cause tissue deformation as it is being inserted into the operative area.        
Therefore, it would be beneficial to have a superior system and method for performing a plurality of robotic surgical interventions utilizing real-time MRI imaging.